Big hole means big problems

Saturday

Jul 13, 2013 at 12:01 AMJul 13, 2013 at 8:47 AM

SOUTHPORT— Mindy Custer is concerned. The dirt road she lives on in Southport is impassable by car and she wonders what would happen if her home caught on fire or her 72-year-old mother-in-law needed an ambulance.

MATTHEW BEATON | The News Herald

SOUTHPORT— Mindy Custer is concerned. The dirt road she lives on in Southport is impassable by car and she wonders what would happen if her home caught on fire or her 72-year-old mother-in-law needed an ambulance.

“There’s no way they could get back here. There’s no way,” she said.

The heavy rains about 10 days ago damaged the dirt road she lives on, drilling a big hole about 6 feet deep into it and cutting about a 30-foot swath into it from the side.

Now three families and their six cars are still stuck on the wrong side of the battered road.

“We haven’t been able to get our mail … our garbage is overflowing,” Custer said, who lives on Hickory Bluff Drive.

Residents on the road say any time there’s a storm the dirt roads take a beating, but it was worse this go-round.

“This was bad. All the hurricanes and stuff, it’s never been this bad,” Custer said.

And there’s no quick fix. The road is private and not a part of the Bay County system. An ordinance, passed more than two decades ago, prohibits the county from adding any private roads to its system, unless they are paved and meet county standards.

Custer and her neighbors aren’t happy about that. They say they pay county taxes and are on county water, so they should be helped.

“We want the county to take it and maintain it,” said Sandra Bunch, who lives on Hickory Bluff Road.

But that likely won’t happen, barring a special exception by the County Commission.

Possible solution

The one solution that both the county and the original property developer appear interested in is paving the road with a less expensive asphalt.

Provided it meets county standards, the road could then be handed over to the county.

Open-graded asphalt is not allowed for new developments, but it can be used by existing private roads and then they can be added into the county system, said Ken Schnell, county public works director.

“It’s porous and water is actually stored inside the pavement,” Schnell said, noting it limits the land needed for stormwater runoff.

About 25 percent of the overall volume of the pavement can hold rainwater, Schnell said.

He added: “You still have stormwater runoff on the road, but it’s nothing like normal pavement runoff.

Open-graded asphalt is about half the cost of standard asphalt. The rough cost estimate with the open-graded asphalt is $60 a linear foot, on a standard 22-foot wide road, Schnell said.

Fred Webb, who began developing the property as a subdivision in the ‘80s, likes the cheaper option.

Webb said he decided to shut down the subdivision after he failed to require a homeowners association and realized the road situation was unsatisfactory.

Ever since, he hasn’t sold any lots, but has spent a lot of money repairing the dirt roads. But he’s nearly had enough.

“Sooner or later my moral obligation should expire,” he said, adding, “This is probably going to be my last merry-go-round with it.”

Webb said he was interested in helping fund an open-graded road, with no retention ponds, but wouldn’t pay 100 percent of it. He said the property owners should fund it.

“I would be paying the majority of it (though) because I still own a lot of lots out there,” he said.

Webb said it’s fair that property owners foot the bill because they will reap the benefits, and it will likely increase property values. But he noted that also would be a boon for the county.

Not unique

Private dirt road problems aren’t unique to Custer and her neighbors.

Commissioner Guy Tunnell’s rural district has several roads facing these issues.

“This is not an unusual situation,” Tunnell said, adding, “It’s a real problem and from a public safety standpoint it’s bothered me, but there’s only so much we can do with the county with private property. Our options are very, very limited.”

Many property owners along these roads have approached the county, seeking to pave their road and add it into the county system. But thus far, that’s not happened with any of them.

The amount of right away that each property owner must cede in order to meet county standards has been the big sticking point.

“That’s been the No. 1 problem with trying this program — was getting a buy-in from all the residents,” Schnell said.

Schnell also said there are no state or federal grant funds available for private roads. He said state law prevents using public funds on private roads.

Tunnell, meanwhile, pointed out the county has its own dirt roads to worry about, all 231 miles of them.

“Before we take on any private roads, we certainly have to address the ones we already own,” he said. “There’s no one easy answer to all these situations.”

Tunnell said he would be willing to sit down with the property owners and talk about their situation, but that likely would accomplish little.

“We more than likely aren’t going to make everyone happy,” he said.

Tunnell also pointed out that residents choose where they live. He said by staying in rural Southport, instead on in Panama City Beach, they have to “lower their standard of expectation.”

“When you buy those parcels of land, it’s the old buyer-beware situation,” he said.

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